Myth
Briar Elwood
Chapter VII
Huisa
"So, how's she doin'?" Cam asked in an undertone as the team left Iarad to the City of the Undead. Daniel glanced at him before looking to the woman in question, who was unhappily bringing up the rear.
"Fine, I guess," he replied. "At least it seems like it…for the amount she drank!"
"Kinda quiet, though," Cam commented. Daniel shrugged.
"Probably doesn't want to open in her mouth in fear of up-chucking again."
Cam snickered softly. "Can't blame her."
"So…how are we planning to find this weapon?" Sam asked from behind the two men. Daniel turned to glance at her, shrugging.
"Don't know yet."
"I believe we're flying by the seats of our pants at this point," Cam added.
"We might be transported somewhere, like last time," Daniel hypothesized, "but, the last time we came here we didn't even turn into ghosts, so, really, we have no idea what's going to happen."
"There it is," Teal'c announced. Everyone turned to look ahead of them to see the magnificent city with the lone mountain right in the middle of it. Daniel could feel the old excitement he had first felt about this place bubbling up inside of him as he quickly rushed closer. Maybe this time he'd have the chance to explore.
Almost An Hour Later…
"Wild guess: we're not gonna be turning into ghosts," Cam said irritably. Daniel shrugged.
"Looks like it. We might as well explore."
Cam raised an eyebrow at him. "You're just saying that cuz you want to figure out the history of this place, aren't you?"
Daniel shrugged again, grinning. "Maybe. But what else is there to do? We gotta find this weapon, Cam."
Cameron sighed. "Fine."
"There's nothing to explore out here," Sam pointed out. "No signs that there ever was civilization except for the buildings."
"What about the mountain?" Vala asked quietly. Daniel looked at her, surprised.
"She's got a point," Daniel agreed. "The mountain's obviously hollow…"
Cam jerked his head at the mountain. "All right then. Let's go."
In The Mountain…
"Oh great…" Cam muttered under his breath. Daniel hurried to the colonel's side to see what he was grumbling about. The linguist's eyes lit up, accompanied by an eager grin.
"Look at that!" he exclaimed. "These walls are full of writing…probably history! And…" He peered closer at the transcriptions. "It's the same language as the tablet!"
Cam sighed. "Well, Jackson, I suppose you've found what you'll be busy with. Teal'c, you're with me. Sam, Vala, you two go together. Stay in radio contact."
Daniel was already immersed in translating as the four other split up and went separate directions. Sam glanced sideways at Vala after a while, unnerved at the woman's silence.
"You're awfully quiet," she commented. "I thought Daniel said you were coming back."
Vala shrugged. "Probably just the stupid drink messin' with my head."
Sam nodded, waiting. After a few seconds, Vala finally spoke again.
"Sam…how…how did you deal with it?"
Sam glanced at her friend. "Deal with what?" she asked, having the feeling she knew perfectly well what the ex-con was talking about.
"Not…being able to have children."
Sam winced. She had been right. "Well…Jack and I had already decided it would be best not to, at least for the time being, because of work. And after he died…well, it didn't really matter anymore. I don't know. The situation didn't really make it so it was really that hard to deal with. Unlike you."
Vala nodded silently, staring at the ground in front of her.
"Hey," Sam said, nudging Vala gently. "At least you have Jared, right?"
Vala shrugged. "Yeah. I guess…it'd just be nice to have a kid who Daniel didn't feel—"
"Sh!" Sam interrupted suddenly, frowning down the hall. "Do you hear something?"
Vala's brow furrowed and she listened. "Yeah…"
"It sounds like…"
"Singing," Vala finished.
Meanwhile…
Simply, Daniel was having the time of his life. The transcription was turning out to be a complete history of the city. Apparently, the true name of it was Huisa, which Daniel figured out to closely related to the Dutch word for "home". The city had been a peaceful place and as he progressed further through the timeline, he was surprised to note that it seemed to have died not by it's own fault and fairly recently. And by recently he meant within the last couple decades.
Sighing tiredly, Daniel brushed gently against the wall, trying to clean off some sort of discoloration or dirt that was distorting the script. He frowned when he felt a groove on the wall and slowly traced it with his fingertips. He found it formed almost a perfect rectangle and rested the palm of his hand in the middle, took a deep breath and pushed. The stone fell through and revealed a small alcove in the wall, a shining white orb resting in the center. Hesitantly, Daniel reached out and touched the white stone. Suddenly, the light emitting from the sphere brightened and seemed to stretch out to encompass the archeologist. After a moment, the light drew away, back to the stone and Daniel lay slumped, unconscious against the wall.
A/N: Dun dun dun dun...
